When illuminated by a projector the objects partially block the beam, creating detailed silhouettes in an exhibition now showing at the Blain Southern gallery in Westminster, London.

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Scrap: This piece - called Wild Mood Swings - creates the impression of a couple arguing

The heaps - some self-portraits - were created over three years and are so detailed you can even see creases and folds in the ‘clothing’.

The artists use junk that has been discarded near their home in Shoreditch, east London.

The work - which appears in their exhibition called Nihilistic
Optimistic - appears unfinished as debris such as sawdust, wood shavings
and tools are scattered around the sculptures, as if still in the
artists’ studio.

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Sue, 44, who describes the work as 'street compositions', said: 'People throw stuff away and we bring it back. We don’t like waste.

'Everything will be useful one day.'

Standing tall: The junk makes it seem as though there are giants in the Blain Southern gallery in London

Tim, 45, added: 'There was a kind of deliberate choice not to use such recognisable objects any more, and to start fracturing things up - splintering things.'

The pair met at Nottingham Polytechnic, where they studied art in 1989.

They began collaborating in 1996 and their work has
been shown in solo and group exhibitions internationally.

They say music – in particular Punk – is one of their great influences
when it comes to being creative.

Tim said: 'I think anything that’s a bit of a
rocket up the a**e, anything that kicks against the routine, against the mundane
things that close down your mind, is a refreshing and good thing.

'Punk did that
very successfully. It offered a direct and instant means of producing products
or things.'

Creative: Artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster while constructing one of their 'human shadow' masterpieces

Crafted: Each piece of art in the Nihilistic Optimistic exhibition was crafted in painstaking detail

Detailed: The shadows of the people are so well-crafted even their 'shoes' and 'hair' can be seen

In 2009, Noble and Webster were awarded Honorary Degrees of Doctor of
Art at Nottingham Trent University in honour of their contribution to
contemporary British Art and their radical influence on younger
generations of artists.

Their exhibition runs until November 24 at the Blain Southern gallery in Hanover Square, London.

Spooky: The artists cleverly use junk to create an eerie image of a human hand

VIDEO: Artists make shadow sculptures from discarded east London trash